View From Your Table

This is a James C. photograph … taken with my iPhone. It’s sooooo hot in Milan today, and after seeing St. Ambrose’s basilica, and praying at his crypt, we were wo’ out. You know it must be hot if I’m happy to drink Heineken. The words “extra cold” convinced me. And you know, it hit the spot.

Heineken is fine, and you’re doing well if it’s the worst beer you drink.

What’s the best Italian beer, that’s what I want to know?

I had Peroni a couple times many years ago, I think it’s Italian. Doubt it’s their best, though.

[NFR: I love Dutch beer, just not Heineken. Brand (pron. “Brahnt”) is my favorite. Know what one of the worst Italian beers is? Birra Dreher. There’s a craft beer revolution under way in Italy now. I think the best Italian beer is Birra Nursia, but of course, I would think that, wouldn’t I? 😉 — RD]

In Europe, Heineken is what one drinks if in Italy or some other region there is no better beer. No sane person would drink Heineken in Germany, Austria, Czech republic etc. when almost always better stuff is easily available.
Now Erdinger might not be the greatest Weissbier but it sure beats Heineken. Although some people simply don’t like Weissbier, so that’s o.k.

[NFR: I love weissbier, but didn’t feel like drinking one that day. — RD]

On a hot day a Heineken chilled to just above freezing can be just the right thing. It used to be my favorite many years ago but my tastes have changed and perhaps it isn’t as good as it once was now that it is a mass-market beer. When I was in high school it was rather exotic. You could not count on finding it in just any liquor store. In fact, you could count on not finding it.

[NFR: When I was in college, the only imported beers you could find in my part of the US were Heineken, Beck’s, St. Pauli Girl, Bass Ale, Corona, Negra Modelo, and Foster’s Lager. Oh, and Moosehead and Molson (do they still make those Canadian beers? It’s been forever since I’ve seen them). Very few of those beers would I drink now. The domestic US beer scene is way, way, way better. About the only import I would choose to drink now is something from Belgium. — RD]

further research: the more recent consensus is that Augustine was indeed baptized in the location where later the Duomo would be built, but only a few stones of the ancient baptistry have been found when in the 1960’s archaeologists excavated under the floor of the cathedral, see

Russ — in terms of beers one can routinely find in many pizzerias and tavernas, I found one on my most recent trip called Poretti (not to be confused with the ubiquitous Moretti) that I rather liked. I also tried an amber version if Poretti that I didn’t like as well as their basic lager, because it seemed hoppier than I care for. But I definitely recommend the Poretti lager (what you get if you just ask for a Poretti).

It’s interesting; it seemed to me that Italians are embracing beer — and, in particular, drinking beer with pizza — far more than a couple decades ago. But that’s just my completely unscientific observation.

The one bad thing about the American craft beer revolution is the marginalization of good imports. I miss the days when you didn’t have to hunt high and low for places that had taps for things like Pilsner Urquell, Whitbread Ale or Fuller’s ESB.

David, some things are just so evident that they don’t need scientific confirmation. I can say that as someone who has had Sam Adams on tap in Ravenna, Brooklyn on tap in Monopoli (Apulia), Sierra Nevada in Pescara, Red Brick Hoplanta IPA on tap in Bari, Saranac Pale Ale in Perugia, Boulevard in Naples, bars devoted entirely to Belgian abbey ales and lambics, and of course a dizzying array of new birrifici artigianali (craft microbreweries) in every region, including the South.

David J. White,
Pizza and beer in Italy must be awesome. I actually discovered how good red wine is with pizza while staying in Honduras, of all places. They had no good beer, by the way, but I drank the few options anyway, and argued about which was my favorite awful yellow beer–Port Royal, over Salva Vida and Imperial, if you must know.

[NFR: I vastly prefer red wine with pizza. In fact, I don’t drink beer with pizza, ever. It sounds delicious, but that’s way too much carb-loading for me at one sitting. Makes me feel terrible. — RD]

Philly Guy, and other Philadelphia/Jersey folks, what local brews do you prefer? I’ve had a good selection of Yard’s ales, and I do like them, particularly their “brawler” session ale. But I haven’t found anything I consider my go-to, like I used to have when I lived on the N. Shore of MA. Then I would almost always come home with Ipswich Ale, good for every occasion, I found. Note: If you try Ipswich and hate it, I’ve heard that it’s changed, for the worse, since I have left there. So don’t blame me.

I haven’t tried much from Victory. I find the names of their beer gimmicky and off-putting (yes the same can be said of Yard’s, I know).

Rod, whether or not there are way too many carbs involved when eating pizza and beer is not something I usually worry about. But I suggest adding more meat and veggies to the pizza for a more balanced meal 😉 Maybe even throw some feta and chicken on there.